Tweet
CIVILITAS POLLS
http://www.civilitasfoundation.org/cf/council-on-international-relations/civilitas-polls/719-civilitas-polls.html
Wednesday, 02 November 2011 20:06
With the support of Norwegian and German governments, a few months
ago the Civilitas Foundation began to conduct polls throughout Armenia.
The results of the polls will be made available to the media and
will serve as the topic of public discussions. The aim of the project
is threefold:
The first and most important is to validate the value of an individual
citizen's opinion. By creating a reliable and sustainable mechanism
for collecting the opinion of real people of all ages and in all
geographic areas, both participants in the polls as well as those who
read about them and see their opinion reflected there, will begin to
believe that individual opinion and public opinion have value.
The second aim is to offer reliable public opinion frequently and
consistently in order to validate the value of public opinion as a
tool for policy formation.
Finally, a third aim of the polling process is to broaden the scope
of public debate - by asking new questions, and by offering new and
different answers to old, standard questions. Both are crucial if
Armenian society is to continue to be engaged in public discourse,
without disdainfully casting aside old theories and conclusions.
Of course, good, reliable, objective polls also serve many other
purposes. There is no better way to gauge societal transformation,
changes in attitudes, hopes and expectations, the development of new
values and new customs and patterns of behavior, without gathering
responses to frequent, continuous sociological questions.
METHODOLOGY
Committed to making the polling process as accurate, transparent and
reliable as possible, Civilitas has collaborated with the Caucasus
Research and Resource Centers (CRRC). The CRRC experts of the central
office located in Tbilisi have offered expert guidance in staff
selection, training and question formation and poll processes.
The CRRC experts have also participated in the selection of respondents
in order to assure the formation of a demographically-representative
sample of respondents who trust the process and will offer honest
responses, without fears or suspicions about how their response will
be taken.
QUESTIONS
Questions are asked of 1000 households throughout Armenia within a
two-day period.
The first sets of questions have covered a variety of subjects. The
graphs below represent responses.
During the recent poll more than 1000 households were asked questions
about their readiness to temporarily or permanently leave the country.
The questions were asked in the second week of October, during a
month when public discourse and private chatter centered on this
topic. Both the National Statistical Service numbers about travel,
as well as individual anecdotal stories seemed to bear out the popular
conviction that emigration is no longer possible to rein in.
The responses were interesting. Nearly half have considered temporary
emigration, but almost one-fourth of the respondents would consider
permanent emigration. Interestingly, of those who have considered
permanently leaving the country, 23 percent have family members living
abroad. Of the NOs, 27 percent have family member living abroad.
'Abroad' often did not include Russia as far as some respondents
were concerned.
In mid-September, Civilitas asked about independence. A full 89
percent said they considered Independence Day a day of celebration.
And 86 percent said they were proud to be a citizen of Armenia. A
large number (68 percent) would vote again for independence, if the
referendum were held on the day of the survey.
Earlier in May, Civilitas asked questions about Internet use.
Forty-six percent of the respondents did not use the Internet, while
21 percent used it every day. As the main reason for not using the
Internet 38 percent of those who did not use Internet mentioned that
their financial means were not sufficient, 32 percent mentioned they
did not have a computer and 19 percent did not need it.
http://www.civilitasfoundation.org/cf/council-on-international-relations/civilitas-polls/719-civilitas-polls.html
Wednesday, 02 November 2011 20:06
With the support of Norwegian and German governments, a few months
ago the Civilitas Foundation began to conduct polls throughout Armenia.
The results of the polls will be made available to the media and
will serve as the topic of public discussions. The aim of the project
is threefold:
The first and most important is to validate the value of an individual
citizen's opinion. By creating a reliable and sustainable mechanism
for collecting the opinion of real people of all ages and in all
geographic areas, both participants in the polls as well as those who
read about them and see their opinion reflected there, will begin to
believe that individual opinion and public opinion have value.
The second aim is to offer reliable public opinion frequently and
consistently in order to validate the value of public opinion as a
tool for policy formation.
Finally, a third aim of the polling process is to broaden the scope
of public debate - by asking new questions, and by offering new and
different answers to old, standard questions. Both are crucial if
Armenian society is to continue to be engaged in public discourse,
without disdainfully casting aside old theories and conclusions.
Of course, good, reliable, objective polls also serve many other
purposes. There is no better way to gauge societal transformation,
changes in attitudes, hopes and expectations, the development of new
values and new customs and patterns of behavior, without gathering
responses to frequent, continuous sociological questions.
METHODOLOGY
Committed to making the polling process as accurate, transparent and
reliable as possible, Civilitas has collaborated with the Caucasus
Research and Resource Centers (CRRC). The CRRC experts of the central
office located in Tbilisi have offered expert guidance in staff
selection, training and question formation and poll processes.
The CRRC experts have also participated in the selection of respondents
in order to assure the formation of a demographically-representative
sample of respondents who trust the process and will offer honest
responses, without fears or suspicions about how their response will
be taken.
QUESTIONS
Questions are asked of 1000 households throughout Armenia within a
two-day period.
The first sets of questions have covered a variety of subjects. The
graphs below represent responses.
During the recent poll more than 1000 households were asked questions
about their readiness to temporarily or permanently leave the country.
The questions were asked in the second week of October, during a
month when public discourse and private chatter centered on this
topic. Both the National Statistical Service numbers about travel,
as well as individual anecdotal stories seemed to bear out the popular
conviction that emigration is no longer possible to rein in.
The responses were interesting. Nearly half have considered temporary
emigration, but almost one-fourth of the respondents would consider
permanent emigration. Interestingly, of those who have considered
permanently leaving the country, 23 percent have family members living
abroad. Of the NOs, 27 percent have family member living abroad.
'Abroad' often did not include Russia as far as some respondents
were concerned.
In mid-September, Civilitas asked about independence. A full 89
percent said they considered Independence Day a day of celebration.
And 86 percent said they were proud to be a citizen of Armenia. A
large number (68 percent) would vote again for independence, if the
referendum were held on the day of the survey.
Earlier in May, Civilitas asked questions about Internet use.
Forty-six percent of the respondents did not use the Internet, while
21 percent used it every day. As the main reason for not using the
Internet 38 percent of those who did not use Internet mentioned that
their financial means were not sufficient, 32 percent mentioned they
did not have a computer and 19 percent did not need it.